Barry Lyndon

Barry Lyndon, motion picture by director Stanley Kubrick based on the novel by William Thackery. Released in 1975, this multiple Academy Award-winning film tells the story of Redmond Barry, who joins the army to escape retribution for killing an officer in a duel and begins to work his way up the social and economic ladder. Barry tends to deal with conflict by running away, but somehow fate puts him in the way of success. Eventually, he rises to attain the title of Barry Lyndon, along with the land and fortune that comes with it. However, the same indifferent machinations that led to his success also lead to his downfall. Lyndon appears fated to repeat the mistakes of his father, a man like himself in many ways, who dies in a duel in the film’s opening scene.

Director

• Stanley Kubrick

Cast

• Ryan O'Neal (Barry Lyndon)
• Marisa Berenson (Lady Lyndon)
• Patrick Magee (The Chevalier)
• Hardy Kruger (Captain Potzdorf)
• Steven Berkoff (Lord Ludd)
• Gay Hamilton (Nora)
• Leonard Rossiter (Captain Quin)
• Godfrey Quigley (Captain Grogan)
• Arthur O'Sullivan (Highwayman)
• Diana Koerner (German girl)
• Marie Kean (Barry's mother)
• Frank Middlemass (Sir Charles Lyndon)
• Murray Melvin (Reverend Runt)
• Philip Stone (Graham)
• Leon Vitali (Lord Bullingdon)
• Dominic Savage (Lord Bullingdon as a child)
• David Morley (Brian Lyndon)
• Andre Morell (Lord Wendover)
• Michael Hordern (Narrator)

Awards

• Academy Award for Best Art Direction (1975): Roy Walker—Art Direction, Ken Adam—Art Direction, Vernon Dixon—Set Decoration
• Academy Award for Best Cinematography (1975): John Alcott
• Academy Award for Best Costume Design (1975): Ulla-Britt Soderlund, Milena Canonero
• Academy Award for Best Music—Scoring: Original Song Score/Adaptation (1975): Leonard Rosenman

Trivia

• The Academy Award-winning costumes were genuine antique clothes.
• Director Stanley Kubrick had the Zeiss camera company build special lenses for him to facilitate shooting using no artificial light of any kind.